Over three years, Moshi Chilwana received $62,335.28 in public assistance for medical appointments, food stamps and child care. Each time she filled out an application, the mother of two children listed an uncle as the only other resident in her Blaine home and said that the children's father lived in Turkey.

Investigators became suspicious when the alleged father of the children also applied for medical help, listing the same home address as Chilwana. They learned the father bought the house for $232,000 and owned a Mercedes-Benz.

But what sealed the case against Chilwana was an extremely rare request by the Anoka County attorney's office for a DNA sample that proved the "uncle" living with Chilwana was the children's father, Khamis Rashid.

Law enforcement has used DNA to go after murderers, rapists and robbers for years, but Anoka County is in the lead nationally by using it to prosecute welfare cheats.

"I've never heard of DNA being used in such cases," said Barbara Llewellyn, former statewide DNA technical leader for the Illinois State Police. "What an interesting idea."

For Anoka County officials, this simple swabbing of the mouth is a surefire way to stop the flow of tens of thousands of dollars doled out to undeserving recipients every year.

Officials from the state's largest counties, Hennepin and Ramsey, said they couldn't recall DNA being used to criminally prosecute a welfare fraud case, yet Anoka has done so at least eight times in the past three years.

Previously, prosecutors would have to rely on matching blood types or a journal entry representing a person as the father, said Bryan Lindberg, head of the property crimes division for the Anoka County attorney's office.

"We have to prove our case beyond a reasonable doubt," he said. "DNA is a very effective tool should we go to trial. "

Like other counties, Anoka first tries to catch welfare cheaters before they ever collect public assistance.

In the past five years, welfare fraud cases in Anoka County have declined by 90 percent because agencies do a more thorough job of looking for potential fraud before approval and once people are receiving assistance. If fraud is suspected, they can impose sanctions such as cutting benefits without going to court, Lindberg said. State law allows counties to require DNA testing to prove paternity for child support cases, without asking a judge's approval for a search warrant.

Samples sent to private lab

If the county wants to pursue criminal charges of welfare fraud, an investigator needs a judge to approve a search warrant for a DNA sample. To get that they need to show evidence that the parents lived together when a child was conceived or a picture from a relative showing the couple in a hospital with the baby.

Anoka County sends its DNA samples to a private lab for testing rather than bog down the state's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which does the majority of DNA testing for law enforcement.

DNA testing for fraud cases hasn't been used in Hennepin County, said Cathy Lindberg, who managed the county's welfare fraud unit for 12 years. Since 2007, her unit referred an average of nine cases to the county attorney's office for possible charges. Dollar amounts must reach at least $10,000 before a case will be referred.

None of the cases referred to the fraud unit involved paternity issues, said Deputy County Attorney Pat Diamond. Since every participant receiving public assistance in the county is given a DNA test to prove paternity, the results could be used in a criminal case, he said.

A look at some cases

The Anoka welfare fraud cases used to involve small dollar amounts, but now people typically get caught receiving $20,000 to $40,000 in illegal benefits, Lindberg said. The higher cost of medical and child care expenses is contributing to the increase. Wrongfully obtaining public assistance is a felony, and restitution is always required, but very little is paid back.

In one recent case a 42-year-old Blaine woman was able to cut the county a $14,000 restitution check shortly after she was charged. That was only one-third of the amount of illegal assistance she received over six years.

Other cases show how much is at stake to a county like Anoka. A 44-year Blaine woman who claimed she didn't know the father of her children and received welfare benefits totally nearly $27,000 since 1992, according to a court document. During that time, she bought a $580,000 home in Brooklyn Park. She told the welfare agency she was afraid her children would be harmed if the county went after the father for child support, the document said.

Another time, an investigator went to a house in Blaine with a search warrant for a DNA sample, and a man answered the door. The investigator asked who else lived in the house, and the man answered, "My wife and children," the document said. The DNA test proved paternity, which meant his wife should not have been receiving food stamps and medical assistance dating back to 1990.

"The stakes are high in these cases because of the dollar amounts, which is why they get charged with a felony," Lindberg said. "The DNA test makes our case that much stronger."

David Chanen • 612-673-4465